Movie review: The ‘Ant-Man’ sequel sits at the kids’ table of the Marvel universe

Ed Symkus More Content Now

Monday

Jul 2, 2018 at 10:59 AMJul 2, 2018 at 10:59 AM

It would be fair to say that within the vast labyrinth of the Marvel Universe, Ant-Man is a minor character. And that “Ant-Man,” the 2015 film that starred Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, a petty criminal who, once donning his story’s version of a super suit, was able to get small, grow tall, and zip around fighting off all sorts of bad guys, was, when compared to other entries in Marvel moviedom, a minor film.

But it was certainly an entertaining endeavor and, by the way, took in just over half a billion dollars at the box office. A sequel was inevitable. And so, with the usual question about the need to see the first film before moving on to the second hanging over it, the answer is a resounding no. The gaggle of writers who fashioned this screenplay took care to include enough information before the opening credits run to allow any newcomers to catch up on what’s going on, much of which was hinted at the first time around.

Here’s a taste: Brilliant inventor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his brilliant wife and science partner Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), both of whom had the ability to shrink down to ant size, were long ago involved in a save-the-world scenario that ended with Janet going “subatomic” and vanishing into the Quantum Realm. Now Hank and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) believe that Janet might still be alive, and that only Scott can help them find her. Well, Scott, along with the acquisition of a special technical component that’s in the hands of the smarmy villain Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins).

Too much to keep track of already? Sorry, there’s plenty more. Scott, a divorced dad who gets to see his young daughter on weekends, is going through two years of ankle-braceleted house arrest (due to something that happened in one of those “Avengers” movies). Hope, who has wings attached to her super suit when she becomes the Wasp, flies around stinging people when she’s small, and beating them up when she’s tall, especially people like Sonny Burch and his band of thugs. But things go awry when everyone gets to meet the ghostly Ava (Hannah John-Kamen), who also goes by the name Ghost and who, even while wreaking havoc on some of the good guys — for reasons of revenge — is physically fading away.

More: There’s also Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), a long-ago acquaintance of Hank, who’s brought into the fold because, as luck would have it, he’s a professor of quantum physics, and knows a little something about the Quantum Realm.

Yeah, there’s too much going on, but the script tries to buffer that by tossing in lots of large vs. small sight gags, having the villains keep showing up at inopportune moments, and splitting the goofiest of line delivery between Rudd and his character’s friend Luis (Michael Pena).

But the story does what it’s supposed to do: It keeps returning to the idea introduced at the beginning, that Janet might still be alive and that they must try to find her. Of most importance, Stan Lee shows up at about the 80-minute mark, the ending will confound anyone who hasn’t yet seen “Avengers: Infinity War,” and there’s a huge car chase through the streets of San Francisco, which should bring smiles to Michael Douglas fans. Those who don’t get this reference should IMDB his 1970s TV work.

— Ed Symkus writes about movies for More Content Now. He can be reached at esymkus@rcn.com.